Marmer: "I Like to Think of Myself as a Reinforcer'

BOSTON - Former student athlete and Director of Player Development and Operations for Quinnipiac University, Danielle Marmer, was welcomed into the Bruins organization with open arms during Development Camp week at Warrior Ice Arena, as she was introduced as Player Development and Scouting Assistant.

"I'm not a trailblazer," said Marmer, who is believed to be the first woman in a front ofiice-related hockey operations role. "There are a lot of women right now in leadership roles in the NHL and in other development roles, so I like to think of myself as a reinforcer."
Marmer, who joined the Bruins on Monday, just in time for Development Camp at Warrior Ice Arena, has a long history in the game of hockey as a collegiate athlete, coach, and scout.

Starting Young

Marmerstarted off playing hockey around two years old, saying she looked up to her sister, who was a figure skater. "My older sister did figure skating," said Marmer. "And I wanted to do what she was doing."
While following in your older sister's footsteps is great and all, Marmer didn't exactly have the grace for the white skates.
"I switched over to hockey when I was five, apparently wasn't a very graceful figure skater," said Marmer.
The lack of grace was no setback, however, as she excelled in hockey playing on both girls' and boys' teams growing up at the rink her mother ran. "My mom ran the rink in my town and I played on boys and girls club teams," said Marmer, who hails from Dorset, Vermont.
And when it came to facing adversity while playing a male-dominated sport, Marmer said she didn't really notice it growing up, and that it only became more clear to her later on in her career.
"My mom made me my own little locker space when I would play with the boys, so if anything, I thought I was special for having my own private locker room," she said. "I don't think I recognized it."
It wasn't until Marmer got older, and was told stories from other women about both playing and working in male dominated fields.

From College to Coach

Marmer played hockey at Quinnipiac University where she was a forward from 2013-17 and graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Legal Studies. She played in 132 games for Quinnipiac and finished her career with two goals and 13 assists for 15 points. Marmer said it was an adjustment playing college hockey, and the struggles she went through as a student athlete made a role in coaching and mentoring that much more appealing to her.
"My college career didn't start easy at all," said Marmer. "I faced a lot of adversity throughout the whole four years, but especially early on. And I think battling that and that growth experience is really what led me to wanting to coach and wanting this player development role."
Someone that helped Marmer through college was her coach, Cass Turner, who she says shifted her mindset and was able to help her have a positive impact on her team. When asked about some things she might have learned from her own mentor that she could bring to the Bruins, she said it's all rooted in forming strong trustworthy relationships with the players.
"I hope to maintain relationships with the players and recognize what they need," said Marmer. "I probably won't do it as well as Cass did, but that's my goal, is to have really strong relationships with the players."
Although her playing career was ending, Marmer began her coaching career as an assistant at Connecticut College right away in 2017 where she helped lead the team to a program record of 15 wins and a second-place finish in the NESCAC in her first year. She then returned back to Quinnipiac and served as the Director of Player Development and Operations which she enjoyed and gave her valuable experience to then enter the next phase of her impressive career.

Next Stop: Boston

With a strong hockey background and a passion for coaching in its many forms, Marmer became part of the
Bruins' Diversity and Inclusion Mentorship Program, which launched last fall
. Associate director of Amateur Scouting Ryan Nadeau was paired up with Marmer and the two met on Zoom once a week from September to May.
"I think [Nadeau] liked my reports on players and my ability to talk hockey," said Marmer, while acknowledging that she did not go into the program hoping for anything more than experience. "I envisioned it as being an opportunity to work on my ability to evaluate players, but I had no intention of trying to get in with the Bruins."
But her work during the program impressed the Bruins brass so much that it led to them bringing Marmer on in a full-time hockey operations role.
"Diversity and inclusion is paramount to moving forward, and I applaud San Jose [for hiring Mike Grier as general manager]; I applaud all the teams that have added diversity to their staffs," said Bruins general manager Don Sweeney. "We didn't do something reactionary, we did something because we wanted to. Danielle Marmer is someone that was part of our Diversity and Inclusion Scouting Program and worked her way through there for an entire year, working with our staff.
"We just felt that she was a terrific fit for where we wanted to go in that directive and the things that she had been doing at Quinnipiac, and what she could apply to our Hockey Operations. And we'll continue to do that. We are trying to hire great people that want to work for the Boston Bruins and improve our hockey club and Danielle added to that. And anybody else that we come across in the same manner, we are going to try to continue to push the needles in those areas."
Marmer will be working closely with Player Development Coordinator Adam McQuaid in Providence this season and will be bringing her years of experience to a group of young players. Marmer also has some ideas of her own, which include looking to incorporate more video into the development routine.
"I'm hoping to bring a little bit more of a video aspect to what they're doing now," said Marmer. "I'm also hoping to get involved in the scouting piece of it as well."
In addition to McQuaid, Marmer has also spent a lot of time around the rest of the team staff with this being the Bruins' Development Camp week and she is fitting right in.
"The Bruins staff has been phenomenal," said Marmer. "Every single person that I've interacted with on the Bruins and within this organization has been unbelievably welcoming."
Although not her initial intention, having this role with the Bruins is a dream come true for Marmer.
"I think every day since the Draft I've had a 'wow' moment," said Marmer. "Right now is one of those 'wow' moments, the press conference in there with all those [reporters] was a 'wow' moment. It's happening every day."